The Cats in Our Lives, by Kaye Bonney

Sweet and Gentle Zar 

If it feels like cats have always been a part of our family, it’s probably because they have. The saga begins when our son Aaron was very young and a friend’s cat had kittens. We said we would adopt the mellowest one in the litter and picked out Zar, who unlike his litter mates, was an incredibly mellow cat even as a kitten. The perfect choice, he never scratched, never bit, and if someone bothered him, he just quietly moved away. 

He did like his creature comforts, though. As Zar got older, he spent his nights sleeping on top of the heating vent and when it went off at 10 pm, he yowled piteously to let us know that he was cold and miserable. Moving to Plan B, we bought him a heating pad and blanket that we put on the bed. That’s where he slept from that point forward , and it might have been the reason he lived such a long and contented life. His laidback nature and steady presence enriched our lives in so many ways until he passed away at the ripe old age of 22. 

Skittens the Huntress

After Zar died, we were catless for a while until we learned about Skittens, who started her life as a stray on the streets of San Jose and eventually ended up in a shelter. At some point after being adopted, her previous owner had to move back east and couldn’t take her with him, so when a mutual friend told us about her situation, we agreed to give her a home. 

Each of our animals has come to us with its own distinct personality and Skittens was no different. Shy, aloof, and a mighty huntress, she would have been a great barn cat. She was a little hard to live with at first, very jumpy, always coming to us for affection but not wanting us to come to her. Also, she never warmed up to John or Aaron but bonded with me. 

As she got used to her new home, it was clear she was not going to be an indoor cat. She would yowl at the door with very loud cries that were impossible to ignore, particularly at 3 am, when raccoons, opossums, and other wild critters roamed our streets in the dark. But as it turned out, we needn’t have worried ─ Skittens was perfectly capable of holding her own. Rats stopped decimating people’s vegetable gardens, gophers disappeared from lawns, and the mice population was suddenly under control. 

She looked very sweet with her big round face, very soft fur, and beautiful calico colors but as it turned out she was the terror of the neighborhood, bringing us back Norwegian roof rats, mice, and the occasional lizard on a nightly basis. 

Emerson the Homebody

A few months after we lost Skittens, we went as a family to Nine Lives in RWC and found Emerson. He was very friendly and liked all three of us immediately, so we decided to take him home. He seeks affection from each member of the family differently. For example, he likes to have John pick him up, but that’s not true for me or Aaron. He likes to sit on my lap in a particular chair. And he likes Aaron to give him vigorous massages, but not me or John. 

Unlike Skittens, Emerson is no hunter. With one exception, he has not delivered so much as the remains of a mouse to our doorstep.  A couple of years ago, my husband and I decided to spend six weeks driving across the country, the longest trip we have ever taken, while Aaron stayed home with the cat. Instead of having two retired humans at home giving him regular attention, Emerson was left alone for up to 10 hours a day.  On his way to work one morning, to Aaron's amazed surprise, he found a dead mouse next to the front wheel of his car.  Had Emerson, in a desperate bid for more attention, actually caught and killed a mouse and left it as an offering to our son? Maybe ─ although Aaron jokes that Emerson just ordered it from a pet supply store.

The bottom line with Emerson is that he’s this really affectionate and handsome guy who loves to live in a house with other people, is a cuddler rather than a roamer, loves everybody he meets, and is totally comfortable in his own skin. Definitely a very special cat.